Sign up for free

Newsletters

Colossal Head, Mexico, 1939

"First prize for the expedition's shovels was this prehistoric 'Doughboy': The Colossal Head, being measured by Matthew W. Stirling, leader of the National Geographic Society-Smithsonian Institution Expedition, is about 6 [1.8 meters] feet high and 18 [5.5 meters] feet in circumference. Carved from a single massive block of basalt, it is remarkable for its lifelike appearance entirely different from any other known American Indian sculpture. Its partly exposed 'helmet' led the expedition to the Tres Zapotes area."

—From "Discovering the New World's Oldest Dated Work of Man," August 1939, National Geographic magazine